Family Secrets
by LadyV77
Summary: The Sons aren’t the only ones with secrets. She’s coming back to Ipswich. PogueOC, CalebSarah. Rated for future language, violence and themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Title****:** Family Secrets

**Summary****:** The Sons aren't the only ones with secrets. She's coming back to Ipswich. PogueOC, CalebSarah. Rated for future language, violence and themes.

**Disclaimer****:** Don't own it. Have the DVD, though. Original characters such as Emily are mine, as is the story.

**Author's Note****:** Hate the Kate character; girls like her make me sick (a guy as gorgeous and genuinely nice as Pogue has to know he can do better). This is my way of correcting that part of the movie without really changing anything, and then looking at what happens after the events of the movie.

**Reading Key****:** _Italics _indicate emphasis or thought. One "x FS x" left justified is a change of point of view. Centered line breaks of multiple "x FS x"s equal a scene change.

Prologue takes place during the movie, should be clear what part from the context. Chapter 1, which immediately follows the prologue, takes place just after the end of the movie.

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**Prologue**

They probably wouldn't have heard the quiet sliding sound if it hadn't come just as Kate stopped typing. It also happened to be in a lull in their conversation, mostly because Sarah was getting tired of trying to placate her roommate with empty platitudes. Both of them turned to look at the door, catching sight of what appeared to be a photo that had been slipped under it.

Sarah watched in surprise as Kate scowled fiercely and stalked to the door, flinging it open with a loud bang. She could see Kate as the other girl looked both ways down the hall. Apparently she didn't find what she was looking for, because she slammed the door shut and stooped to pick up the picture. Kate crumpled it after a quick glance and a sneer, tossing it into the trash.

"What was that about?" Sarah asked when the other girl had sat back down at her desk.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Nothing important."

Her curiosity peaked, Sarah closed the cap of her lotion bottle and got up from her bed. Going to the trash can, she pulled out the crinkled picture. Kate watched her with a frown but didn't say anything. Smoothing the photo, Sarah was surprised to find that it depicted Pogue Parry and a young woman she didn't recognize. The girl was beautiful; long dark hair, medium blue eyes and a slender but curvaceous figure. She was sitting on a motorcycle, a yellow one Sarah recognized as being Pogue's. The long-haired Son was standing behind her, arms around her waist as his chin rested on her shoulder. What really struck her was the happiness and contentment in Pogue's eyes and the set of his face.

She'd never seen him like that. Granted, she hadn't actually known him long, but even when he and Kate weren't fighting over her flirtations with other guys, they never seemed truly happy. Just a few minutes earlier Sarah had told Kate that she and Pogue were perfect for each other. Truth was, she didn't know either of them at all well enough to be making that call. But she was scared that if Kate and Pogue did split, Kate would go after Caleb.

That first night on the Dells when Kate had told her about the Sons, Sarah had noticed the breathless way Kate had said hello to Caleb. _Before_ she'd greeted Pogue, her boyfriend, the one she should be most excited to see. Sarah was sure there was a history there that she didn't know. And she didn't have anyone to ask. Being friends with Kate evidently precluded being friends with any other girls at Spenser. So it was better for Sarah, and her chance with Caleb, that Kate stay with Pogue. But this was too intriguing not to risk irritating the other girl.

"Who is she?" Sarah asked.

Kate's lips pulled down further. "Emily Simmons. She was a local, friends with the Sons from childhood. She and Pogue dated from the time they were freshmen. Then five months ago she left town, and I started dating Pogue."

"Why'd she leave?"

Kate shrugged. "No one knows. But every time Pogue and I have a disagreement, one of those shows up under the door."

"Pogue?"

"No. He won't even say her name. He was beyond pissed off when she disappeared. It has to be either Reid or Tyler. Caleb's not that cruel."

Sarah hummed thoughtfully. "What's the point of sending them to you?"

"No idea," Kate sighed. "Even if Pogue is such a jealous jerk and overreacts sometimes, I'm still _here_. That's very important to him. I don't think he'd break up with me even if I did cheat."

Sarah had to work really hard to hide her disdain at Kate's words. There was no doubt in Sarah's mind that Kate would one day test the truth of that statement… if she hadn't already when she and Chase had gone to the movie theatre un-chaperoned. Sarah wouldn't have been surprised. Kate seemed to have quite the sense of entitlement when it came to the young men she wanted. It was almost enough to make Sarah ask to be moved to another room. But Kate was the only one to be friendly to her, even if it was a condescending friendliness. She was willing to put with the other girl's unfortunate personality flaws for now.

"Have you ever confronted Reid or Tyler about it?"

"No. And I'm not going to until I catch one of them in the act. Reid's a jerk; he would complain to Caleb and Pogue in a heartbeat. I'm reluctant to blame Tyler for it without proof. He's a sweetheart when he isn't being led around by Reid."

Sarah nodded. There seemed to be more than one reason the rest of the Sons called Tyler "baby boy."

Kate heaved a sigh as she turned off her computer. "I'm going to bed."

"Night," Sarah said distractedly.

She stared at the picture of Emily Simmons for almost an hour before succumbing to sleep as well. She didn't see the figures in the photo shift, Emily moving away from the bike as both she and Pogue's expressions changed, reflecting true heartbreak.

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A figure in the hallway closed eyes gone completely black and Used the picture back to the way it had originally looked. He'd been hovering near the ceiling, listening to the two girls until he felt Sarah fall asleep. Caleb seemed serious about this new girl, and Emily would need all the support she could get when the time came for her return. He would do _anything_ to make sure her transition back into their lives was as smooth as possible.

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**Chapter 1**

Sarah's head rolled tiredly against the headrest of Caleb's Mustang as he drove them back to Spenser Academy. There were disturbing gaps in her memory. She searched mentally for something to take her mind off what might have happened through the long hours of the night she could barely remember. She wondered briefly how Kate and Pogue were doing, if they were both better now that Chase had been, if not killed, at least stopped. The thought made her wonder if he might have had more to do with Pogue's emotional pain than they'd previously considered.

"Do you think Chase might have something to do with Emily Simmons' disappearance?"

Caleb swerved and then slowed as he got the car back under control. "How do you know about her? I didn't think Kate would tell you…"

"She didn't have much choice," Sarah said, a hand over her heart to calm it's racing from the fright of Caleb's startled reaction. "The night before the spider bites, someone slipped a picture of Emily and Pogue under the door of our room. I asked her who was in the picture and she told me a little about the situation."

Caleb frowned and mused aloud. "I wonder who did it. But to answer your question, if Chase did know about Em, he would have used her against Pogue, not Kate."

"Maybe he tried and something went wrong," she suggested quietly.

Her boyfriend shook his head. "No. He didn't come to town until just before you did; Em's been gone five months. Besides, just making someone disappear wasn't his style."

"That at least seems true," Sarah agreed. "Did Emily know about the Covenant?"

"No, at least not all of it. There were times when she saw us Use, especially when we all first got the Powers when we were thirteen, but Pogue wasn't allowed to tell her. We weren't old enough. I kind of broke the rules by telling you before I Ascended."

Sarah reached over and squeezed his hand gently. "Will me knowing get you in trouble?"

"Probably not. If any of the guys' fathers find out that it technically took place a couple days too early, they'll likely let it slide because of the Chase situation."

She nodded acceptance.

"Tell me about the picture," Caleb requested.

"Emily was sitting on Pogue's motorcycle. He was standing behind with his arms around her. They both looked so happy."

Caleb smiled. "I took that the day she got the bike."

"She bought it for Pogue?"

"No," he corrected. "It was hers, a birthday present from her parents when she turned seventeen. She let Pogue borrow it all the time when he fell in love with riding it. It was the only thing left behind when she and her parents disappeared."

"What do you think happened? Do you know why they left?"

Caleb shook his head. "No one does. It was very sudden. They were there one day and gone the next. Pogue was… crushed. I wish you could have met him before, he was never bitter the way he is now. Tyler took it pretty hard, too. Em was his best friend. We were all friends."

"You miss her," Sarah observed.

"Yeah, I do. It's hard for us to make friends outside the Families because of all the secrecy, but she always just _fit_ with us."

"That sounds nice," Sarah said genuinely.

"Yeah."

Caleb was quiet and seemed thoughtful the rest of their drive. He pulled up in front of Spenser and put the car in park without turning off the ignition.

"Get cleaned up, eat, and get some rest," he instructed. "I have to go deal with my mother and making arrangements for my father. I'll be back tonight if you feel up to doing something."

Sarah nodded. "Come whenever you're done. Even if we just stay in the room, I want to see you."

Caleb smiled and leaned in to kiss her tenderly. She opened her door when the embrace was over and started to slip out, stopping when Caleb set a hand on her arm.

"Don't say anything to Pogue about Em. I'm not sure how he'd react on top of everything else."

"I won't," she promised.

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Eyes closed, Pogue drifted in the place between sleep and waking. He was beyond exhausted, having forced himself to stay awake all night worrying about his best friend. He hadn't even realized there was a spell on him making his injuries hurt worse than they should until it had lifted and he'd suddenly been able to breathe a bit easier. It was how he'd known Caleb must have won. He didn't think Chase would stop hurting him just because he'd gotten the first part of what he wanted.

Even without the spell, he was in considerable pain, and he knew his body needed rest. But the sun had risen a short time ago and it was currently shining directly on his face through the partially opened blinds. It was just enough to keep him from being able to drift off completely. Someone came in to the room and moved slowly but directly to the window. Pogue kept his eyes closed, assuming it was a nurse. If it was one of the other Sons he would have known, and he didn't think Kate would be up and about yet.

He frowned as his stomach churned at the thought of his girlfriend. Pogue wasn't blind. He'd seen how she was with Chase. It must have been laughingly easy for the other warlock to use the Creation spell on Kate with how close she'd let him get, _encouraged_ him to get. Though it had made Pogue mad when she'd shamelessly flirted before, it had been different this time. He supposed it had a lot to do with the tension among the four Sons with Caleb's approaching, now complete, Ascension. His own was only a couple weeks away, Reid's two months from now. Then there would be a seven month gap before it was Tyler's turn as the final Son to turn eighteen.

Pogue relaxed a little more when the blinds closed, letting darkness touch his eyelids once more. It was time to let Kate go. Part of him didn't know why he'd bothered dating her in the first place. He'd known before they'd gotten together what she was like. Had known all along that she could never be trusted with the secret of the Covenant. The rest of him knew she'd been a placeholder, something to hold on to when everything else had seemed so uncertain.

He'd known when he'd been racing toward the hospital that it was time to end it. He had been worried about her, true, but it had been the kind of worry he would feel for anyone brought unwillingly into their world. Most of what he felt had been anger. He'd been pissed that he felt responsible for what had happened to her and worried that it might mean he'd _have_ to tell her the truth if Caleb wasn't able to stop Chase. But there was no way he'd tell her now. Even if he had to delve into the darker side of their powers to find a spell to make her forget anything she might have seen that she shouldn't have. He wasn't going to punish himself for the rest of his life by being tied to her permanently.

For the first time in months, Pogue let himself think about the real reason he settled for Kate. She was about as different from Emily Simmons as she could be. Em… _she_ he would have truly worried for. _She_ he would have told when he could, no hesitation. He had, in fact, been seriously considering telling her before he was supposed to when she had disappeared. His chest hurt even worse thinking about her, and a sharp pang struck when he realized how trashed her bike must be.

He was sure the police had taken what was left of it to the impound lot when the ambulance had been racing him to the hospital. He'd get it back, even if he had to seriously dip into the family trust and grease several dozen cops' palms. It was the most important of the few things he had left of hers, and he'd do whatever it took to keep it.

Pogue had just started to drift more firmly into the realm of sleep when his whole body began tingling. It was like the sensation of getting pins and needles when the feeling came back to a limb, only warm. He would have been more agitated by the odd happening if it hadn't only lasted seconds… and left him feeling better. Before, every breath had been agony as his lungs pressed against bruised and broken ribs. He'd had multiple contusions and cuts, a sprained wrist and ankle, and a wrenched knee. Now, aside from still being tired, he felt perfectly fine.

He must have been wrong. Caleb must have come and healed him. Pogue lazily opened his eyes half way to thank his friend. He frowned, his eyes falling shut again, when he saw a young woman standing at the foot of his bed and not Caleb. It took him a few seconds to realize the figure had been Emily. His eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright in bed, still exhausted but more awake than he had been.

There was no one in the room with him.

It took him a full minute to calm down. Obviously Caleb had healed him long distance… he hoped it hadn't been too draining on his now Ascended "brother"… and the figure had been a figment of his tired mind and his thoughts of Em. It had been a long time since he had let himself think about her. It must have combined with whatever injuries he had sustained to his head and his weariness to make him think she had been there. There was no other explanation.

Pogue climbed from the hospital bed and walked into the bathroom. He was startled by his reflection. He still _looked_ injured. He touched a particularly nasty looking bruise on his cheekbone, pressing harder when it didn't hurt. This was an impressive glamour. And very smart of Caleb to do. No doubt the hospital staff would have freaked out if he had healed so miraculously. Now no one but him could tell that he had been healed… well, even he couldn't tell visually. He really needed to thank Caleb for so unselfishly Using for him.

_**To be continued…**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Reading Key****:** _Italics _indicate emphasis. One "x FS x" left justified is a change of point of view. Centered line breaks of multiple "x FS x"s equal a scene change.

**Author's Note****:** Yeah, sorry for the long wait. I've got a lot going on, very little of it good. Like most others, I really need the economy to turn back around, just for starters. Also have a new puppy. Literally every minute not at work or sleeping is spent watching him so he doesn't tear the house apart (also some of the time I _am_ sleeping I have to watch him, lol).

And I actually thought I'd already posted this chapter so I was working on the next one while doing the chapters for my other stories, which slowed me down a bit. Oops! Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Thank you to all the reviewers of the first chapter. Normally I take the time to answer each one (the signed ones anyway) to show my appreciation, but the gap between updates was so long this time that I didn't think anyone would remember what they said in their review. Never doubt that I cherish each and every one, though!

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"When are they letting you out?" Sarah asked after she had placed a vase of lilies on Kate's bedside table and taken a seat in the single chair in the room.

"They said since the allergic reaction is all but gone, I can leave anytime," Kate answered from her place sitting up in her hospital bed. "But my father is flying in a specialist tomorrow who's going to look at my skin and see if any permanent damage was done that needs to be fixed. So I'm staying at least until he's seen me."

Sarah nodded understanding. It was Saturday afternoon, a little over twelve hours since Caleb had Ascended and begun the fight with Chase. After showering, eating and taking a nap as he had suggested, Sarah had called to check how Caleb was doing. He'd been in the midst of planning his father's cremation and had told her he wouldn't see her until late. Not wanting to stay alone in the room where so many creepy things had happened, Sarah had decided to visit Kate. She had stopped at the florist on the way.

Her lilies were not the only bouquet in Kate's room. There were several vases on multiple surfaces in the room, as well as a few 'Get Well' cards propped up near them. Sarah wondered how many of them were from Kate's family and how many were from male 'friends.'

"Has Pogue been able to come see you?" she asked absently as her gaze returned to the other girl. She vaguely remembered Caleb saying something about Pogue being in an accident, but she had no idea how badly he may have been hurt.

Kate's jaw tensed and she looked away. "Yes."

Sarah frowned at her roommate's venomous tone. "What's wrong?"

"He broke up with me," Kate spat out. "Said Chase told him about what we did."

Even though she didn't mean it, Sarah said, "I'm sorry."

Kate didn't look like she believed the cliché, crossing her arms in front of her. "We should think about one of us asking for a new room assignment. I can't deal with seeing Caleb all the time, reminding me of Pogue."

Sarah parted her lips, mute for a moment. Though she'd had passing thoughts of changing rooms herself, and could understand where Kate was coming from, she didn't want to make an enemy of the only female friend she'd made at Spenser. And even if they did wind up in separate rooms, if she made it seem like that wasn't what she wanted, there was a chance Kate would stay at least somewhat friendly with her. She needed to have someone to hang out with while Caleb spent time with the other Sons.

"Can't we wait until you've had time to think about it? At least until you come back to school."

"Whatever," Kate replied. She leaned more heavily into the pillow behind her. "Would you mind leaving now? I'm tired."

"Sure," Sarah said softly. "I'll see you later."

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"Thanks, Caleb," Pogue said as his friend wheeled him out of the hospital.

He was going home the evening after Caleb's birthday, against doctors' recommendations. They wanted to keep him another twenty-four hours for observation, but Pogue couldn't stand being stuck in the hospital a minute longer. The full day he'd been there had been more than long enough. The pain medication they'd been giving him… they didn't know it was completely unnecessary… had been making him feel woozy and off. He had been afraid it might make him see Emily again. Seeing her image when he had no idea if he'd ever _really_ see her again was torture.

"No problem," Caleb responded. "I'm just glad Tyler let me borrow his Hummer and that Reid didn't insist on coming. You wouldn't be comfortable in the Mustang, and no one should have to suffer Reid's driving. We both know the second I got out to get you he'd take the driver's seat."

Pogue frowned, confused as to why Caleb would think he'd be uncomfortable in the car. Sometimes he felt slightly claustrophobic in the compact vehicle, especially after the freedom of riding a motorcycle, but he thought he'd hid it from Caleb. He did, however, agree with the other young man's assessment of Reid.

"Why _didn't_ he and baby boy come?"

"Reid had a date. I'm not sure why Tyler didn't come. He's been even quieter the past couple days."

Unbidden, the words Pogue thought actually left his mouth. "He's been withdrawn since Em left. The chance of losing more people important to him probably freaked him out."

Caleb actually stopped walking for a second before he started moving again. He agreed quietly, "I never thought of it that way before, but I think you're right."

Pogue stayed silent for the rest of the trip out of the hospital and into the vehicle. He was glad that Caleb didn't push him to talk. He wasn't sure he would be able to without it turning into an overly emotional reaction. And when he got that way, he sometimes Used accidentally.

The drive to his apartment was also accomplished without any talking. When Caleb stopped, unable to pull into Pogue's assigned parking spot, Pogue looked out the front windshield. Sitting in its spot, in pristine condition, was his… _Emily's_… motorcycle.

He was out of the vehicle in seconds, jogging to the Ducati to inspect it more thoroughly. It took Caleb a minute to catch up with him since the other Son had to turn the Hummer off first. Pogue's hands ran caressingly over the bike, checking every inch. It was in the exact condition it had been in _before_ Chase had attacked him on the highway. It had all the tiny dings, scratches and worn spots it had accumulated since Emily had first got it. He could have fixed them at any time since she'd been gone, but it wouldn't have been _her_ bike anymore and he just couldn't handle that after everything else he'd lost.

Hearing Caleb behind him, Pogue breathed, "Thank you. First you heal me, and now the bike? I know I should be telling you not to Use so much just after you've Ascended, but you really have no idea how much this means to me."

"What are you talking about, Pogue? You're not healed. You look like a walking advertisement on the dangers of riding a motorcycle."

"You can't see through the glamour?" Pogue asked.

He was surprised despite the fact that he hadn't been able to see through it either. Caleb was the strongest of them, even before he had Ascended. Technically, the four of them were supposed to have an equal share of the Power, but Caleb had always been more in tune with it. It was how he had sensed Chase before the rest of them had. Pogue used to think it was because Caleb was the oldest of this generation's Sons, but they now knew that to not be the case. Maybe it was because Caleb was so intent on not being as weak as his father.

Caleb shook his head. "You're healed? Completely?"

"Yeah," Pogue replied. "I thought for sure it was you. I guess it could have been Reid and Ty working together."

"Maybe," Caleb mused. "But Tyler hardly ever Uses unless it's _all_ of us together, and this is a little too thoughtful to have been something Reid came up with."

"True," Pogue agreed. "But what other explanation is there? Even if Chase survived the fire like you've been fearing, _he_ wouldn't have healed me."

Caleb shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we can ask the guys later. Unless you want me to call them over here now?"

"Nah." Pogue nodded to the Ducati. "I think I'm going to go for a ride."

Caleb smirked. "Be careful, man."

Pogue rolled his eyes. "Real funny, Caleb."

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Caleb moved the Hummer out of the way so Pogue could pull out. He watched the other boy ride away with a slight frown. He could feel during their conversation that Pogue was holding something back from him, but he wasn't sure if it truly was a secret Pogue was hiding or if it just had to do with Pogue's discomfort at having brought Emily up out of nowhere.

Pogue hadn't said Emily's name in months. He'd gotten drunk twice since she'd been gone. The first time had been a week after Emily had disappeared when Pogue had accepted that she was gone. It was then that he had stopped talking about her, had become unwilling to hear anyone else say her name, let alone anything else about her. The second time had been a month after she'd left, on what would have been Emily and Pogue's third anniversary of dating.

That had been the night Kate had made her move on him. Caleb had done nothing to stop it, thinking Pogue would work out whatever he needed to by using her for the night. He'd never expected Pogue to start _dating_ her. They'd all known what she was like. But it was Pogue's life, and as long as he wasn't thinking about bringing Kate in on the secrets of the Covenant, it was his to live how he chose.

With the way Pogue had brought Emily up today, thoughtfully and calmly, Caleb felt hope that he was ready to truly deal with his loss and move on. For real this time.

Caleb drove back to Tyler's house, parking the Hummer in the circular front drive. The Simms estate was nearly as large as the Danvers one. In some ways Caleb found it more impressive since it wasn't as dark and was better maintained. While his father had been living in the old homestead and his mother had been self-medicating with alcohol, he hadn't felt like he had the right to change anything. Now that things had been irrevocably altered, maybe he could do something about it.

He let himself in to the Simms house, knowing he had been more than welcome to do so since before he was old enough to walk. Making his way to the large room on the left side of the main staircase, a family room Tyler had claimed as the place for the Sons to entertain themselves when they'd been twelve, Caleb was surprised to find Tyler _and_ Reid. Oddly, since it was usually the other way around, Tyler was pacing and acting anxious while Reid sprawled in a chair, completely calm.

"What happened to your date?" Caleb asked the blonde Son, though his gaze remained on the youngest of them.

"Something came up that delayed her, we're meeting at Nicky's in an hour," Reid answered.

Caleb nodded and dropped the keys in Tyler's hand when the other young man walked over. He frowned at the almost jumpy way Tyler was acting. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Tyler immediately responded. "Just have somewhere to be."

"Where?"

Tyler frowned. "You're not my father, Caleb."

Surprised at the hostility in Tyler's voice, Caleb held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry. I'm going to be worried for awhile since they didn't find any remains."

His admission seemed to calm Tyler, who nodded understanding.

Reid piped up, "Even if he did survive, you think he would risk coming back after you whooped his ass?"

"I don't know," Caleb said. "Logically, coming back once he's licked his wounds would be an even greater risk since Pogue Ascends soon, and we know he knows a lot about us. But he's addicted, and desperate. He could see it as his only choice. Who knows, he may go after one of your fathers if he thinks he won't be able to beat us."

"Damn."

Caleb blinked, and he and Reid both turned to look at Tyler, surprised at the youngest Son's mild expletive.

Tyler shook his head, "Dad wouldn't stand a chance."

Despite the fact that he'd never seen Walter Simms Use, Caleb was thrown by Tyler's immediate dismissal of his father's ability to fight. Like Ty, Walter was the youngest of his generation. He was also the one who had apparently Used the least. Garret Garwin and Simon Parry looked, respectively, ten and fifteen years older than they were. At most, Walter looked only a few years older than his chronological age of forty-one. Caleb didn't know if he had Used once for something big or just done smaller things over a longer period of time, but considering how he looked, Walter _had_ to have more Power stored up than the elder Garwin and Parry.

Caleb was about to bring this up with Tyler when the other young man's cell phone rang. Tyler almost dropped it in his haste to answer it, opening it before it had the chance to ring a second time.

"Hey," he said softly. "I'm on my way now." There was a short pause before he responded to the caller, "Me, too. See you soon."

Caleb opened his mouth to ask who Tyler had been talking to, but Reid frowned and shook his head.

"I gotta go," Tyler said to both of them. "Feel free to stay as long as you want."

As soon as he was gone, Caleb turned to Reid. "What's up with Ty?"

The blonde Son fidgeted and started pacing. After almost a minute, he stopped and faced Caleb. "You don't remember what Thursday was, do you?"

"The day before my birthday?" Caleb responded in a confused tone. Then it dawned on him. "Emily's birthday."

As long as they had known each other, and it had been all of their lives, Emily had never really celebrated her birthday. Even once she and Pogue had officially been an item, she refused to let anyone make a big deal out of it, preferring to celebrate holidays and their anniversary instead. And she would never tell them why. The only concession she had ever made was to let the four of them spend the day with her. This year, that hadn't been an option.

"He's been pulling back little by little since she left. And Thursday…" Reid shook his head. "The whole Chase thing drew him out of it a bit, but now he's acting even weirder, secrets meetings and shit… I don't know if we should give him space or confront him. I've tried bringing it up a couple times, but he always changes the subject or ditches me."

"Do you think he's trying to find her?" Caleb mused aloud.

Reid frowned in thought. "What, you mean like with a private investigator or something?"

The four of them had tried to cast a tracking spell when Emily had first disappeared. It had fizzled before it even left the Covenant meeting room in the basement of the Danvers homestead. Nothing in the Book had been able to tell them why it hadn't worked.

Caleb shrugged one shoulder. "It's a thought. It could explain why he's being secretive."

Reid nodded, his lips pursed. His gaze drifted to the mahogany desk in one corner of the room. "We could check…"

Before Caleb could contemplate what an invasion of privacy it would be to break into the locked drawer where Tyler kept his important papers, Reid was already halfway there. Caleb quickly moved to follow. Blackness briefly flashed over the surface of Reid's eyes, and a second later he was pulling the drawer open. He lifted out a thin stack of papers and quickly thumbed through them; Tyler's birth certificate, Social Security card, high school transcripts and copies of college applications that had already been sent in.

Reid scowled, obviously disappointed at not finding the evidence he wanted. Caleb studied the drawer for a moment before realizing it wasn't as deep as it should be. He Used, too, and the false bottom sprang open. Caleb pulled out a stack of photos and frowned. The top one was about a year old, and it was of Emily and Pogue with the Ducati.

"Why would he hide this?" Caleb asked before flipping to the next photo.

His frown deepened when it proved to be the same one. So were almost all of the photos. There were twenty copies of that particular picture in total. Only the last photo in the stack was different. It was much older, and Caleb didn't think he'd ever seen it before. It was of Tyler and Emily, probably from eight or nine years before, sitting together in front of the fireplace in the room Caleb and Reid now stood in. The odd thing was that Tyler's parents were also in the photo, standing behind the seated children. It looked like a stereotypical family portrait. But why would they have taken it?

Reid snatched the picture from Caleb, staring. "That's just weird, man."

"Yeah," Caleb agreed softly. "But they were always close."

"True." Reid handed the photo back.

Caleb set it on the desktop and laid one of the copies of the Ducati photo next to it. Passing a hand over both, he Used to make the newer photo a replica of the older one. He then returned all the photos to the secret compartment of the drawer except for the new copy. Making sure the false bottom was pressed back down where it belonged, he put Tyler's papers back and locked the drawer.

"What are you going to do with that?" Reid asked when he was done.

"Hold on to it," Caleb answered. "If he doesn't snap out of this weird behavior soon, we'll confront him with the picture and tell him we saw the other ones. He's up to something, but I have no idea what."

He didn't mention his conversation with Sarah about the Ducati photo. If all Tyler was planning was to keep messing with Kate, Caleb had no problem with that, but he didn't want Reid knowing. The blonde boy would either bring it up at the wrong time or egg Tyler on into doing something more. As much as Caleb had no love for Kate, he didn't want things getting out of hand over her. She wasn't worth it.

_**To be continued…**_


End file.
